With the election coming up on 4 December, Perrie Croshaw has pulled this primer together of what’s involved – with the help of Emeritus Mayor Brian Petschler.

As the Kiama LGA has no wards, the nine councillors are elected by all of the voters in the area. Those councillors then elect a Mayor and Deputy Mayor from their ranks at the first meeting of the new Council, scheduled for 11 January.

Until then, Council is in caretaker mode, with the CEO having delegated powers to keep business functioning.

Councillors are usually elected for a four year term but, because of the COVID postponement, this next term will only last for three years.

Voting is compulsory for all residents over 18, with those who don’t facing a $55 fine.

As there are nine candidates to be elected, each voter must vote for at least five candidates. This is why all the groups nominated for the election have at least that number.

That makes it easy to do the bare minimum and put a number 1 in one of the group voting squares above the line. By doing this you are voting for that whole group of candidates in the order they are listed.

However you can vote above the line or below the line. If you vote above the line, you vote for the groups; and if you vote below the line, you vote for individual candidates.

Either way, it is preferable for your vote to cover at least 10 candidates to keep it alive during the count.

This is because the Kiama LGA is determined using a proportional representation voting system, where a candidate is elected if they reach a quota of votes.

Any surplus of over the quota then gets transferred to the next preferred continuing candidates.

If you only vote 1 above the line, your preferences will be exhausted after the number of candidates in that group.

This can mean that some councillors will be elected without fulfilling the quota, as there are not enough votes left to transfer down.

This is one of the reasons some people take up the option of voting below the line. If you chose to do this, vote to 10 to have the chance to properly influence the result.

Voting for at least two groups above the line will also ensure your vote is not exhausted. Note that if you put your preferences below the line, after first voting above the line, you may invalidate your vote.